Tutor: Judy Cole
“I danced everywhere as a child”
My work as an environmental performance artist comes from embodied movement, which is fed by my increasing awareness of my self and of the space I am in. The ‘movement’ is created moment by moment and is not scripted or choreographed.
It places itself in the knowing of the unknown.
I work with differing themes, nature, art, people, but the basic premise throughout is how humans interact with different environments – be they nature world or human-made. I place importance on dropping the human-centred perspective and give equal importance to non-human and/or inanimate participants. For me, this creates a more equal dialogue in the present moment and is a more democratic way of living in this world. This brings with it the idea of not only being a witness to life but also being witnessed, bringing more a sense of belonging and of being in an inter-relational context.
As well as performing live within different environments, I am a maker of films. These come from finding a sense of place and collaborating with what I feel I need to say in it and what, by its nature heritage, the place itself is saying. Of course this may begin as my subjective response, but I find that something soon emerges from the voice of the place itself, begins to speak and is no longer mine.
My background working as a contemporary dancer, then with healing, with gardens, with nature, with people, all give me material with which to play and understand. At the heart of my practice is the 30 years I spent with my movement teacher Suprapto Suryodarmo, a Javanese movement artist and continual inspirer and awakener to the life.
I offer workshops for basic movement skills and movement`meditation walks.